Heathrow fire caused by the problems that the national network has identified 7 years ago

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An official review found that the fire that closed the Heathrow Airport in March was the result of problems in a power station that was identified for the first time seven years ago, but it failed to reform.

The government -owned national energy system operator said in a report issued on Wednesday that the fire in March was the result of a “catastrophic failure” at the North Hyde station in Hayes, west of London, after moisture entered the “fuss” equipment, through which it flows inside and outside the transformer.

The report said that the electricity transmission department in the national network has identified high humidity readings in the oil station dating back to 2018, but did not address the problem.

She said that the readings indicated a “imminent mistake” that requires replacement of the fuss, but “the appropriate dilution of its severity has not been done.”

The report added: “The applicable controls were not effective … This review finds that there are other opportunities, if they were followed up, it would have occurred in the case. Instead, the high reading was not done to read.”

The sub -fire was destroyed, which led to the power outage of about 70,000 customers in the region, including Heathrow Airport, the most airports of Europe.

Heathrow’s closure canceled more than 1,300 trips and raised large -scale questions about the flexibility of critical national infrastructure.

Britain’s energy organizer said it had opened an investigation into the transmission of national network electricity.

“It has been proven that the root cause of the fire was a preventive technician,” OFGEM said in a statement.

Ed Miliband, the Minister of Energy, added that the review was “deeply related, because the known risks were not addressed by the transition of national electricity to the network.”

In a statement, National Grid said it “has a comprehensive program for inspection and maintenance of assets.”

He added: “We have taken more measures since the fire. This includes a comprehensive review of the process of taking oil samples and our results, increasing the enhancement of fire risk assessments in all operating sites and re -testing the sub -stations that serve the strategic infrastructure.”

Heathrow, who faced criticism for her The closure decision For a full day after the fire, the accident said, “The clear shortcomings in the management of the national network of the network and the outdated safety standards are highlighted.”